Board report

Hi all- I attended last night’s board meeting and presented our sixth grade petition on behalf of our school. I followed up this morning with an email message to the board and Dr. Harter and will let you know when I hear a response.

Other news last night included a vote to continue K-3 class sizes next year at the current level: K up to 24, 1-2 up to 20, and 3 up to 28. It was explained that because “kids don’t come in sets of 20,” actual sizes are usually slightly less than the max: averages this year are K: 22, 1-2: 19, and 3: 25. Next year should be about the same. Maintaining this level, however, will eat up almost all of the remaining “rainy day fund” that the district has, and what happens after next year is anybody’s guess. It was pointed out that nearly EVERY district in California has increased class sizes and that in this area WCCUSD is the leader of all districts in Alameda/Contra Costa counties.

Last night we were also told that WCCUSD has won an award and will be acknowledged at a national conference of school districts for the Ivy League Connection program: a scholarship program led by board members Kronenburg and Ramsey to provide support for local students to attend Ivy League schools. These students have begun blogging about their experiences. For our much-beleaguered district, this is a great program that we can all be proud of.

Lastly, there was a large group of parents from Kensington Elementary at last night’s meeting. They were lobbying primarily for class size reduction and I spoke with Catherine Mercurio about their PTA’s legislative action group, which is a very active, effective group in their school. They recognize that their effectiveness can only be increased by engaging the larger community– I will post a message about their next meetings, and encourage Madera parents to attend and get involved.